


Stuck with You

by VaultOfMelkurMistress



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 1980s, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fun, Hurt/Comfort, Intimacy, out of the vault, relationship, shipfest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:47:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27724360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VaultOfMelkurMistress/pseuds/VaultOfMelkurMistress
Summary: The Doctor suggests a quick trip out of the vault - a mere time jump. Naturally it goes very wrong and they end up stuck in 1986 without a TARDIS for a good long while. Fluff, love, humour, angst, friendship, living in 1980s England, the struggle of trying not to be bad and being stuck with 80's technology."Where are we going? How many tempting human squishies will I encounter and what’s the game plan if I turn all murdery and kill a few randos? You have some zappy security bracelet that’ll knock me out, sending me back here? UNIT on standby? Or are you just plain insane?”
Relationships: Twelfth Doctor/Missy
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23
Collections: Twissy Stories





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was on my laptop for a while, began as a one shot for my Vault series, but I wanted to run it for more than a couple of chapters as thought that might be fun - but with huge angst in places, because being not evil is a bit of a struggle of course!

“I’M B O R E D.”

The Doctor stared, speechless at the large screen, currently displayed prominently for the packed hall full of students to watch a video he had made of a theoretical time experiment. He had cheated and used components from an alien world - but he hadn’t gone off world to pick them up, so it was only cheating in terms of the experiment. 

He coughed and ignored the two hundred students watching in confusion as he crossed to the desk and tapped a button, cutting the internet connection. 

“DOC-TOR.”

He let out a puff of air as he soon heard some muted laughter in the lecture hall, the words this time taking up the entire screen with a purple background and an image of a closed umbrella continuously twirling, in the centre below it. 

He sighed and switched off the screen and in mere seconds after he began talking, the psychic paper in his trouser pocket vibrated, then grew rather warm. He ignored it until it began to feel hotter - then firery hot. 

He pulled it out and dropped it to the ground, smiling through gritted teeth. 

“Let’s talk about quantum mechanics.”

He had taken his psychic paper to the TARDIS and left it in a fire proof box before having a strong cup of tea with five sugars. He simply waved Nardole away as he came in, sounding annoyed and possibly affronted - he could just make out, from the snatches of Nardole’s constant stream of words, that he had made an unannounced visit to the vault. 

Missy was hardly to blame then. 

“Are you even listening?” Nardole said, his voice raised an octave in clear heightened irritation.

“Yes, listening is what I do best Nardole!” said the Doctor, hoping he looked convincing. 

“Right, ok then. I’ll just approve Missy’s requests for a litter of Siberian tiger cubs then.”

“Yes, go ahead, Siberia is lovely,” the Doctor said, mentally browsing the local Mexican takeaway menu in his mind that he had committed to memory for moments such as this. 

“I’m checking on you in the morning,” Nardole huffed as he swung the door open in a show of annoyance.

“Very good Nardole,” the Doctor said absently as he smiled, selecting Missy’s favourite options. 

He leaned back, his feet straight up onto the desk as the door closed and Nardole’s footsteps retreated down the stairs. 

Then he sat bolt upright.

“Tiger! Really must pay attention sometimes. Probably not ok to use my TARDIS to speed up food delivery. Probably not. No.”

Ten minutes later, he was leaning back against the vault doors, his TARDIS in front of him.

“Hopping an hour in time and coming straight back to get our dinner isn’t even comparable to going off world - but...I’m thinking of doing that,” he called out, to the doors. 

“Hmm, are you asking me to support your indiscretion honey?”

“I suppose I am, takes both of us to make these decisions - I ordered your favourite…”

“Buttering me up I see. You go enjoy your jaunt without me, I’ll just sit here committing no indiscretions whatsoever. Feeling very left out of all the fun.”

“It’s not fun Missy, it’s collecting a takeaway, you can have an indiscretion too?”

“Like what dear? As I explained, so subtly to you, I’M BORED.”

“Ok,” he said, spinning around and bypassing the unnecessary raft of locks and security, to open the door in one swift movement. “An indiscretion together cancels it out. Coming?”

Missy remained sitting on her chair, staring at the Doctor through the open door. 

“Well...you can’t just spring that on me...I do have plans and I’m not going to just drop them because you decide we’re going out, besides, I don’t have a suitable hat or know whether the air is even breathable out there.”

“Missy, it’s Bristol in 2018, the air is fine apart from minor pollution. Come on, field trip!”

Missy gave a thin smile and crossed her legs, leaning back in her chair. 

“Missy, if you take any longer to leave we may as well just wait for linear time to take its course.”

“Well, maybe we should, I do need time to prepare for a trip.”

“Why?” he asked, frowning. 

“Because,” she said, with a deep sigh. “You can’t just spring this on me. What does it mean? Where are we going? How many tempting human squishies will I encounter and what’s the game plan if I turn all murdery and kill a few randos? You have some zappy security bracelet that’ll knock me out, sending me back here? UNIT on standby? Or are you just plain insane?”

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck as he walked into the vault, leaving the door open and making a mental note of the way her eyes flitted almost nervously to the dark expanse of the basement visible between the doors and his TARDIS. 

“Missy,” he said cautiously, aware that too soft a tone would offend her. “You don't have to, I won’t do it without you, we can just wait, but I’d like you to try. One trip, leave with me, walk a short distance to the restaurant and collect the food, straight back to my TARDIS, and back before Nardole even suspects I’m up to something. No security, just us. Would do you say? If you don’t want to today it’s ok.”

“I…” her breath hitched as she took a sudden shaky breath. “I don’t trust myself Doctor. Not today, it’s too soon.”

He pulled his chair over in front of her, reaching out, his hand cupping her cheek. She leaned her face immediately into his touch and closed her eyes as tears threatened to betray her and spill. 

“Do you want to kill anyone, Missy?”

“No,” she whispered. “No, I don’t, but people are annoying."

“Then trust yourself. If you won't do that, trust me when I tell you, you can do this.”

Missy kept her eyes firmly closed as she started to cry, the Doctor frowning deeply with concern. 

“It’s late evening, dark outside, a bit chilly by human standards, not noticeable for us. A clear night sky, quiet too, not a weekend. We can walk a few meters from my TARDIS.”

“With _your_ driving?” she said, opening her tear filled eyes, to look at him as she took his hand and placed a kiss in the centre of his palm. “I don’t wanna be taking a train and three buses from Cardiff.”

“You can watch, make sure I don’t land in Cardiff.”

“This isn’t a containment field under the stars Doctor - it’s a city centre on earth. I’ve caused utter chaos in a radio tower inhabited by only two humans, this seems a tad risky.”

“Not the best reminder, but that was then!” he held out his hand, waiting for what felt like an eternity as she contemplated it - his arm beginning to ache but still he didn’t falter. He visibly relaxed as she finally took his hand and they stood together, both taking a breath before turning to walk toward the door. 

She let go momentarily, taking her jacket and slipping it on, her eyes focused intently on her buttons and she did them up before looking up, somewhat dismayed. 

“I can’t go out like this.”

“Why, you look...great, you look very you...purple is your colour..”

“Oh do stop, you really need lessons on flattery. Next time we do swapsies worksheets, mine is on Proper Flattery and Compliments.”

“Ah, sorry. Well, I shall trade you for A Typical Day in Earth Ethics.”

“Oh how awful, you do torture me, but no, I meant a hat. I am not going outside without a hat.”

“Oh...a hat. Well, I don't have one..perhaps we could make a stop.”

“A hat shop of my style nearby a 2018 Mexican restaurant in Bristol is there?” said Missy, raising an eyebrow in amusement. 

“Ah, no, perhaps, we materialise straight in to a Milliner in the late 1800’s, get a hat and then we can pick up the food. See, working together to solve problems!”

“Yes, aren’t we a great team,” she said, rolling her eyes as she took his hand, took a deep breath and walked the few meters out of the vault to his closed TARDIS doors. She felt a flood of anxiety, her senses immediately overloaded as she took in every nuance of the darkened enclosed area while the Doctor fumbled for his key and the TARDIS did nothing to assist him. She noticed every scent, the musy dampness of the basement, the changes in moisture to her right, indicating much heavier damp and likely vegetation growing due to inadequate ventilation, the lack of light, the sound - distant sound, very faint, of voices, laughing, grass, water dripping slowly. 

She gasped as the TARDIS doors opened and she was finally broken from her thoughts, blinking as the lights rose, almost in welcome to her. She hesitated, almost desperate to retain the mental memory of the scent of dampness, but the new bombardment of stimuli from the Doctor’s TARDIS was much closer to what truly felt like home and suddenly flooded her senses as she broke into a broad grin. 

“Ok Missy?” he asked, his hand on her arm. 

“Of course,” she said, blinking as she focused her mind once again, remaining still, enjoying the weight of his hand upon her arm. 

He frowned, “quick trip, it’ll do you good.”

“Ah well, good is what it’s all about, good is why I haven't left than room for seventy years....so let’s go pick up some takeaway food with minimal human casualties.”

He watched as Missy moved to the steps, sitting, leaning back, her arm outstretched above her as her demeanour changed to one of playfulness and nonchalance, that the Doctor wasn’t quite buying. 

“To the hat shop!”

“The hat shop? Ah yes...I did say. Well, do you happen to remember the coordinates to..”

“91,7,3,10,54,2”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow in amusement as he tapped in the coordinates, checking the TARDIS readouts first before making a move. 

“Milliners, then takeaway then back the vault. We will hardly be gone at all.”

Missy felt a flash of excitement accompanied by a very strong urge to seize control of the delicious technology all around her, accompanied with a flash of very real fear that she might do exactly that. 

“Back in time for movie night in my cosy vault, whatever could go wrong?" she smirked.

The Doctor tensed, her tone suddenly taking a sinister edge. He took a breath, his hand on the lever - she was nervous, a hardened mask was not unexpected, a simple trip and back to the vault, nothing WAS going to go wrong. 

He pulled the lever, the console immediately making a big flash of white light and a loud bang, throwing them both to the floor.

"What have you done?" she said, in the most chastising voice the Doctor had ever heard. "Quick trip! You're _a terrible_ driver!"

The Doctor got to his feet and walked across to her, smiling thinly through the thick smoke now filling his console room as he extended a hand. She grasped firmly, letting him pull her up before dusting herself off on principle, despite her clothes still remaining spotless. She moved straight to the console, pressing buttons to no avail as the Doctor opened the doors, stepping outside. 

"Where are you going? Just bypass the secondary vent system and...Doctor!" she kicked the console in frustration at the bio lock. "Doctor, get back here and fix the vent system!"

"Ah, slight problem there.." he said.

Missy coughed as the smoke filled room began to become uncomfortable, a hand on her hip as she glared at him. "And that is..."

"I borrowed the coils from the bypass system, used them to patch up a cabling fault."

"Sooo...put them back?"

"Ah, well, I would but the circuits blew, I don't have any other..."

"You absolute idiot!" she said in disbelief as he crossed back into the TARDIS, grasping her hand and pulling her through the smoke to the clear, fresh air of the outside. 

The doors immediately closed behind them and the TARDIS...dematerialised. 

"Ah....she'll be back, probably needs a minute.." he said, looking far more like he was trying to convince himself than her. "Nardole can do basic maintenance and coordinates, I'm sure he will be right back with her, any...moment now."

"Mm, yep. Any moment. THAT is more than basic maintenance, that is one very neglected TARDIS, running away and what KIND of bio lock? An anti Missy one, orrrrr.."

"Ah," he said, grimacing. 

" _Well_?"

"Yes, I locked it to my bio signature only...slight problem then."

Missy sighed, a hand on her hip and her other rested on the Doctor's shoulder as she glanced around. "Honey, this doesn't look like much the 1800s."

The Doctor sighed, pulling out his sonic as he walked over to a nearby rubbish bin, rifling through it as he scanned the discarded packets and organic matter before glancing around, a wave of panic striking him at Missy's absence. He held his breath until she reemerged, a newspaper in her hand and a disgusted look at him as held up a discarded crisp packet. 

"What are you _doing_?" she asked in disgust.

"Establishing the date - mid 1980's, still earth..."

"June 15th 1986," she said, reading the date off the newspaper that she promptly rolled up and tapped him over the head with. "Oh! Doctor look! A sweet shop!"

He dropped the crisp packet back into the bin and dashed after her with a deep sigh as she head straight for a shop bearing the sign 'Woolworths.'


	2. Woolies and the Neighbour Who Isn't Dead Yet

“Missy,” he hissed, trying not to raise alarm by drawing attention to them. The manner in which she ran through the shop straight to a large display of many different types of sweets in colourful, shiny wrappers and bounced on her heels, clapping her hands with delight, certainly worked against his efforts considerably though. 

“Missy,” he repeated a little louder as he caught up with her. “We need to focus on making a plan here, you like plans, plans are your forte!”

“Oh I quite agree, yes, quite agree,” she said, distractedly grabbing a handful of sweets and stuffing them into her pockets. “First thing….what is  Pick ‘n Mix?”

“You fill the cup with your pick of the sweets and you can mix it up however you like - have you never done this before? It’s like the sweets Nardole brings you.”

Missy turned her head and cast an appalled glance at the Doctor. “Don’t you  _ dare _ compare the 10 varieties Nardole brings to THIS! Ok, we need a much bigger cup - let’s find a bucket.”

“I would say we find somewhere quiet to sit and discuss what to do next..” he grimaced and glanced around, hoping no one had spotted her as she began to fill multiple cups, thrusting them into the Doctor’s arms as soon as they were filled. 

“Ah Missy,” he began as she smiled happily and grabbed his arm, guiding him in the direction of the exit. “It’s customary to pay for things in shops - in most parts of the universe actually.” 

“Hypnosis will do the trick, surely?” she said, bemused as they continued to walk towards the doors before coming to a sudden stop before the record section. “Now what...is this?”

“Records...round things made of vinyl that…” he began, stopping as she rolled her eyes at him.

“I KNOW what a record is Doctor, I have an exquisite collection of my own in my TARDIS, I meant what is THIS?”

The Doctor followed her, casually pushing a cup of sweets into each of his coat pockets as he watched her pick up a record from the number one section of the chart singles. 

“Doctor and the Medics,” she said. “Hmm, well, we're getting this one, it's got you name on it.”

“Missy, we need to form a plan - we are not staying here for any length of time….NO!”

Missy frowned, turning around with another record in her hands, a growing look of realisation and amusement on her face. “What’s the matter? Oh, does this one particularly annoy you? What could possibly annoy you about The Chicken Song?”

“There are some earth trends I find less appealing than others - Missy, we are not stealing sweets and records. Look, wait here, don’t leave the shop - if we are stuck here right now we are not starting off by robbing Woolworths.”

Missy shrugged and started to dance to the music playing over the speakers, popping sweets into her mouth as she swayed and spun around. The Doctor dashed out of the shop, crossing over the road with a quick glance back to ensure she was still harmlessly browsing the records. He was nervous, admittedly, hoping that no innocent member of staff attempted to stop her eating the sweets before pay for them - as much as he wanted to see how she handled situations like that, he wasn't going to risk it without being their to prevent any untimely deaths. 

He moved straight to the cashpoint, discreetly using his sonic screwdriver to begin emptying the machine of notes. Stuffing them into his, thankfully spacious pockets, he kept going, glancing around with a smile and a quick ‘hello, lovely weather today’ to a puzzled passerby as the machine finally ran out of money. 

He dashed back across the road, and picked up a plastic shopping basket as he walked back inside, anticipating, quite correctly, that Missy would have found even more unnecessary purchases. He didn't even feel worried when she was no longer to be found in the record section, casually wandering through the store until he found her in the toys and games aisle, arms full of things that the Doctor decided not to even question as he took them from her, dropping them into the basket. 

“If we are stuck here, we need a place to stay while we work on a way to get back - stock up on what we need,” he said, grabbing a newspaper and dropping it into the basket. “I think we have more than enough....Care Bears, for now - then we can figure out how to get home.”

Missy ignored his comments about home, forgetting her anxieties about leaving the vault entirely now that she found herself in an altogether different place. She paid little attention as he handed over a wad of 20 pound notes to the confused person at the checkout, who handed most of them back with a receipt and a very baffled expression. She linked arms with the Doctor who now had a carrier bag in each hand, Missy holding the bag containing her two records that she swung back and forth happily as she popped a sweet into her mouth from a cup wedged somewhere within her coat. The Doctor shook his head, deciding that they had at least made an effort to pay for _ some _ of the haul. 

“This is going to be such a fun holiday!” Missy said, before popping another sweet into her mouth, the wrapper going into her other pocket. 

“This isn’t a holiday, we’re stuck here Missy..”

“What’s that?” Missy said, her words muffled by the mouthful of sweets she was hastily chewing as she pointed at a booth situated at the exit, pulling the Doctor over to it and reading the information printed on the side of the booth before excitedly swishing the curtain back and going inside. 

“Missy, what are you doing in there?” the Doctor said with a deep sigh as he read the instructions. “Missy….”

His protest was immediately cut off as her arm shot out from behind the curtain and she blindly grabbed a handful of his coat, pulling him inside with her. He struggled to place the bags down and fit himself inside with her as she half stood up, pushing him onto the chair and dropping down to sit squarely onto his lap, her arms around his neck as she pressed her cheek against his. 

“Doctor,” she said, her voice an almost seductive whisper. “I need a pound coin.”

The Doctor sighed and fumbled in his pocket for the change, pulling out a coin and handing to her.

“Ok, now we only get one go at each picture, so BE READY,” she said, dropping the coin in and turning the metal lever. In moments the screen lit up and a countdown displayed. Missy pressed her cheek more firmly against the Doctor’s with a highly seductive expression, the Doctor simply looked slightly stunned and not quite ready as the first flash went off. 

Missy rapidly moved, placing a kiss on his cheek with a sideways glance at the camera and a hand grasping at his shirt, pulling it out as her hand slid up, palm against the bare flesh of his stomach, his eyes widening perfectly in reaction as the picture was taken. She laughed and turned him toward her, grabbing his lapels as she crashed her lips against his, her kiss continuing long after the last flash had gone off.

“Missy,” he whispered against her lips as he pulled back. “I think the picture was taken.”

“Mm, yes honey but it takes ages to print, and this is ever so cosy,” she said with a smile, chewing her lip as she looked playfully into his eyes. 

He shook his head and took her face in his hands - his absolute intention to stop her as she moved back in to kiss him again. “Missy..”    
  
She raised an eyebrow and chewed her lip, her eyes dropping to his mouth as she shifted on his lap. “Yes Dear?”   
  
He meant to push her away and get out of the photo booth - he really didn't mean to end up kissing her softly and laughing into her mouth as she shuffled round, straddling his lap, her skirts hitched up in a mass of purple fabric and white petticoat. He really _did_ mean to stop her as she murmured contentedly into his mouth, yet found himself lost in the moment instead, as her hands made an even bigger mess of his clothes, far away from the confines of the vault, the daily battle of the past that overwhelmed her as she tried to face it, and he as he tried to support her. The feel of her mouth on his becoming the only thing he was remotely interested in until a loud repeated banging came on the side of the booth, startling him from the privacy of the moment.

They both paused, Missy breaking into laughter and the Doctor smiling and shaking his head as a voice from outside impatiently asked if they were ‘quite finished’ because ‘there IS a queue’

They stumbled out, grabbing bags as they moved, the Doctor looking considerably dishevelled and smiling in innocence at the three people waiting outside. Missy grabbed the photos and looked absolutely delighted as she linked her arm into his once again, showing him the photos as they walked, finally, from the store. 

The Doctor steered them over to the nearest bench he could spot, placing the bags down beside them as he opened his newspaper, browsing straight to the homes to rent section as Missy rummaged in her bags and pulled out a stuffed toy, freeing it from it’s packaging and then carefully placing it back inside, her head n the Doctor’s shoulder as she smiled. 

“The package is also a kennel, it says there’s a whole set to collect, so we need to go back later - I want….”

“Missy!” he said, exasperated. “Several possibilities here, we just need a small house, somewhere to set down for a while so we can work this out.” 

She focused on studying the packaging of her new toy and absolutely didn’t mention the several theories about how to build a TARDIS retrieval device that treacherously dared to creep to the surface of her mind and ruin her holiday with the Doctor. No, she would be utterly clueless on how to fix this situation - because she was NOT going back to the vault any time soon when she could be cuddling up to the Doctor on a bench instead. He would get there, not as fast as she could, but he would eventually find a workable solution...which she would have little choice but to tamper with. It was for the good of both of them, kissing in a booth was far better for them than anything else they had done in the past 70 years and it would seem that his TARDIS was quite in agreement, having run off and left them both there.

Over thirty minutes later - a frustrating thirty minutes of needing more coins to make phone calls, and Missy making it abundantly clear that she required makeup and hair products, which inevitably meant acquiring coins in change from a shop right opposite them, so more shopping was required. Eventually, with Missy quite disinterested in the details, they were in the living room of a furnished house, the Doctor signing a tenancy agreement and handing over the rent in advance in cash, much to the landlord's delight, who walked out, smiling.   
  
Missy had wandered around while the Doctor say down on the couch with a heavy sigh, contemplating how long it might take to actually leave the time they had become stuck in. She happily pinned up their photos above the mantlepiece before going out into the garden after a few minutes of fiddling with the patio doors. She walked to the end of the long, narrow garden, high fences either side, which pleased her immediately - no prying human eyes. She reached the wooden gate at the end, turning around to walk back just as a man left the garden next door. She watched as he walked along with two black plastic sacks in his hands, stopping at a bin clearly marked “19”. Her eyes narrowed as she became very tense, watching him as he passed her gate. 

“Ahem,” she said, smiling tightly. “You seem to have put your rubbish into my bin.”

“Yeah love, no room in mine,” he said, shrugging as he opened his gate. 

Missy reached straight up into her hair, affronted and reacting on instinct, her fingers skimming across her TCE. She steeled herself, taking a slow, steady breath as she smiled sweetly. “Really going to need you to correct this.”   
  
“My bins full,” he said, shrugging before turning his back and going straight into his garden, closing his gate to the sound of the latch sliding firmly closed.

She wanted to kill him. She had not waned to kill anyone that intensely since the incredibly annoying executioner had brought her gel instead of hairspray when she had negotiated what her 'essential needs' as a condemned prisoner were. 

There was also the time Nardole told the Doctor what she had done with her toaster. That was a REAL test of her homicidal urges - the annoying egg just had to get so jumpy about make shift weaponry. Really his problem and not her at all. The Doctor didn't quite see it that way - she missed toast.

Her mind became filled with the beautiful mental image of him shrinking in front of her eyes, as her finger pressed therapeutically on the button of the TCE. The TCE she absolutely did _ not _ have in her hair that is - _oh_ how the images danced in her mind. She reached the bins, grabbing the bags out and walked straight back, hurling them over the fence into the neighbours garden before going back indoors, sliding the patio door closed hard. She hated the fact that she was trying to not kill anyone when it made problem solving so much more complicated and less annoying. 

“The neighbour is an idiot and I didn’t kill him...yet, are you pleased? Because I’m just annoyed and making no promises.”

“He annoyed you?” the Doctor said and she gave him a disgusted look at the excitement that suddenly crossed his face.

“To put it _mildly_ , some people are far better tolerated, five inches tall and very dead.”

“He annoyed you and you walked away? Missy, I am more than pleased,” he said, smiling as he stepped toward her and took her hands in his. “I’m really quite proud.”

“Oh,” she said, breaking into a grin, her annoyance forgotten instantly. “I’ll have to not kill people more often then, if it makes you all sweet to me like this.”

“Not killing people is...the entire reason for what we’re….”

He shook his head with a bemused smile as she noticed the TV, turning it on and flopping down on the couch.

“Honey, there’s no remote, this looks boring..”

The Doctor rolled his eyes and sat down beside her, “I’m not changing the channel for you.”

“Be nice Doctor, we’re on holiday.”

“We’re not on holiday, we’re in a predicament.”

“Yes, and not an ethics book in sight! Nice to take a break from everything.”

“You don't get to take a break from working on yourself Missy, it’s an ongoing journey.”

Missy sighed and feigned interest in the TV, “a little time off will be good for us both Doctor.”

“What exactly does time off mean? 

“Doctor, the only one of us who has done a single thing wrong since we got here is  _ you _ .  _ You _ robbed a cash machine. _ I  _ didn’t even hypnotise the shop assistants, AND I haven’t killed the annoying person next door yet. I’m winning. So I deserve time off from trying to be good, because I’m rocking it. It’s a breeze, this being good lark! Not even worried. Very few homicidal urges! Go me!”

“It’s not a game Missy. It’s best if we stay here now we have somewhere - there’s too many variables out there and this was only going to be a very quick trip if you remember? You were hesitant…”

“I was NOT.” 

“Missy,” he said with a sigh. “It’s ok to be uncertain about yourself, and it’s ok to be excited to be outside, but I think we should stay here, not put you in situations that might be...difficult.”

Missy let out a frustrated sound and shuffled down, stretching out on the couch and resting her head on his lap, looking up at him. “Well, good luck making a quantum fold chamber here honey. Whether it’s a door with a complicated mechanism and ever changing security codes or that one over there, with just a key and a chain, I can get out of either just as easily. I don’t  _ want _ to go out there and start popping all the squishies, well, the one next door is on borrowed time, but otherwise - _ relax  _ Doctor. Let’s just enjoy this, and I promise to try super hard not to do anything especially bad.”

The TV remained on the same channel, both too comfortable to move the Doctor’s hand found its way to her hair, stroking gently as Missy smiled contentedly on his lap. As the program changed to a music focused one, Missy rolled over to face the TV, ensuring his hand did not leave her head and watched the bands playing while making a mental list for records she wanted to buy.

“We need a record player,” she said. “It’s disgraceful this house doesn’t come with one.”

“It only comes with essentials,” the Doctor said, glancing from the TV to the darkened sky beyond the window, neither of them having made a move to pull the drapes as the light outside had gradually faded.

“Music is essential, it’s harder to dance playing it in my head.”

“Do you do that?” he asked, intrigued.

“Sometimes,” she said, as the credits rolled on the TV. 

“You need a record player in the vault, I hadn’t thought, you should have asked.”

“Sometimes it’s better not to have a lot of things around me, more space makes thinking easier.”

“You need balance Missy, that’s important too, and you have been thinking a lot lately. Still having nightmares?”

“Well, I’ve caused countless nightmares, seems fair I should get my fair share.”

“It’s part of the process, talk to me about them,” he said. “It's how your mind is processing what you’re dealing with. It’s important not to deal with that alone.” 

“Later honey, I’m happy right now, give me that for a while.”

“OK,” he said, shifting to a growl of protest from her as he stood up, holding out his hand. 

“What are you doing? This is nice,” she said, pouting. “You really just love to ruin the mood, don’t you?”

“Humour me,” he said, his hand tightening around hers as she took his hand and let him pull her up, leading her through the sliding doors out into the garden, his arm around her waist as he looked up at the sky. 

Missy froze momentarily, her gaze following his up to the clear night sky, the rather ordinary constellations of this part of the cosmos, seeming suddenly much brighter and more interesting than she ever thought possible. Her head dropped to his shoulder as she breathed in the night air, the chill against her face and the unfiltered, natural air, complemented with the scent of the lavender plants and rows of marigolds in the flower beds. She looked up at the stars for the first time in seventy years and felt a rare sense of peace. Opening her mind a little, just enough to brush against the Doctor’s, she felt a burst of happiness as he let her in. His arm tightened around her waist as she shared the peace and happiness of the moment with him - his own sense of hope in the possibilities they could have together, reaching her immediately. 

In a deeper part of her mind, she decided that they really couldn't go home and lose this feeling or the sight of the stars above them for hundreds more years. 

She would have to make going home, a far more complicated process than it needed to be. 

  
  
  


  
  



End file.
